V.A. doctor has started me on Gabapentin 100mg.
Dosages:
5 days x 100mg at bedtime
5 days x 100mg x 2 at bedtime
Forever(?) 100mg x 3 at bedtime

Have you/Are you experiencing any side effects?


They already have me on ESCITALOPRAM OXALATE 20mg

I took three a day for about six months with no problem at all. I didn’t take them all at once I spread the three out through the day.

My Doctor has me at 600mg three times a day for neuropathy in my feet. It hasn't gotten worse since I retired. I've cut it back myself to two pills per day, I'll discuss it with him at my next appointment. 1800mg a day seems like a lot.
But I always take his advice.

Yes, for quite awhile now. I was initially prescribed 100 mg X 3. I felt neither ill, nor beneficial effects. Dosage was increased to 300 mg X 3. I think it helped the nerve pain in my SI joint. Then I began to suspect side effects. I think the higher dosage caused a type of brain fog; I felt like I wasn’t thinking clearly. Finally, one day I couldn’t recall something that should have been easy for me. Now I take 300 mg in the morning only. I think that’s better for me.

My wife has been on it for about five years for back pain.
When she started she was on that dosage. It made her feel like she was in a fog.
It helped with the pain, but she was groggy.

She's been on a third of that for the last four years. Still helps the pain, but she's fully alert.

I was taking 3 x 300 mg daily, for foot pain associated with Guillain Barré. It did not seem to help, so after conferring with Dr., I discontinued it. Did not seem to make any difference, one way or the other.

Now, a few years later, with no Gabpentin, the foot pain is greatly diminished.

Wife and I both take it for different reasons. We both like it, effective with few side effects.

It's true, at first it caused fog or blury vision. That subsided after a few days. Use caution in the interim.

quote:

Originally posted by Schmelby:
My Doctor has me at 600mg three times a day for neuropathy in my feet. It hasn't gotten worse since I retired. <snip>

Hm… I suffer from neuropathy, causing numbness in my feet, impairing my sense of balance. And it’s getting worse. My neurologist has never mentioned Gabapentin. I’ll ask him about it. He told me that there were no useful medications for my neuropathy. He did tell me that me to cease all alcohol consumption. I did, but that didn’t reduce numbness, nor slow its progression. I may resume my nightly 12oz beer.

P. S. I just checked the web. It said that Gabapentin helps neuropathy pain (which I don’t have) but not numbness (which I do have).

I will be watching this thread closely. My doctor just prescribed 100 mg four times daily for 30 days. She said I could just take two if I felt more comfortable with that. This is for foot pain. I've only been taking two a day for the last two days so no change yet.

Gabapention was initially prescribed for seizures. The manufacturer, Pfizer got in a lot of trouble marketing to doctors with everything under the sun. They paid a huge fine and promised not to market the drug for offlabel uses. A doctor can still prescribe the drug if he feels it is indicated. It certainly does not cure neuropathy but may help some people with symptom relief. Problems with thinking and concentration are pretty much universal.

[quote]Now, a few years later, with no Gabpentin, the foot pain is greatly diminished.
 ^^^^^^^^^^
Not unusual neuropathy burns out over time.

I remember when I first started taking it, it made me “loopy” and a little lathartic but after about a week these issues went away for the most part. I take 100mg - three times a day for foot neuropathy and have for over two years now. I know when I miss a dose also because the nerves in my feet remind me about 6-8 hrs later.

For me, it allows me to sleep more soundly (I now have dreams) for the first three to four hours after taking my evening dose.

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:

quote:

Originally posted by Schmelby:
My Doctor has me at 600mg three times a day for neuropathy in my feet. It hasn't gotten worse since I retired. <snip>

Hm… I suffer from neuropathy, causing numbness in my feet, impairing my sense of balance. And it’s getting worse. My neurologist has never mentioned Gabapentin. I’ll ask him about it. He told me that there were no useful medications for my neuropathy. He did tell me that me to cease all alcohol consumption. I did, but that didn’t reduce numbness, nor slow its progression. I may resume my nightly 12oz beer.

P. S. I just checked the web. It said that Gabapentin helps neuropathy pain (which I don’t have) but not numbness (which I do have).

I had numbness too. I would start to feel it about a 1/4 mile into our daily walk. It would progress down my butt, and I would feel it in my balls. The numbness would go down my right leg to my foot. My issue was disc degeneration at L4-5. I have a very good spinal specialist neurosurgeon in Phoenix, and he went in, restored disc height with an appliance, relieving nerve compromise which caused the numbness. Hate to say it, but you are probably there.

I have been taking 600mg 3 times daily for almost 20 years.

I experienced nerve pain after last fall's achilles tendon reattachment surgery.

It made me sleepy and I had to significantly increase daytime caffeine intake to counteract.

My nerve pain built-up as the day went along. Originally, I took one 300 mg pill every 8 hours. Once I got the sutures out, I switched one 300 mg pill after work and another 300 mg pill before bed. Then, for about a month I took one 300 mg pill before bed.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: tatortodd,

Isn't gaba used off label as a sleep aid?

I think my VA doctor is using it for several issues.Sleep is one. I haven't had a night's sleep in over 10 years.

quote:

Originally posted by Johnny 3eagles:
I think my VA doctor is using it for several issues.Sleep is one. I haven't had a night's sleep in over 10 years.

My Dr. prescribed me Trazadone to help me sleep. I take it two or three nights a week, it does wonders for me. I can sleep six or seven hours nonstop. He said it's not addictive. After I retired my sleep schedule was all out of whack.

Yeah. Have been for years. 1200mg a day when added up. Taking it for nerve pain down my legs due to a pinched nerve. No issues. Most of the time it helps

I was taking it just after my stroke due to a pinched nerve. It helped reduce the pain-I also had a series of injections into my spinal cord area to reduce the disk that was squishing my medial nerve.
I can’t recall what my dose was, but it worked before I got the shot in my neck.

Doc told me not to just quit it as it could cause seizures and you have to taper off it. Im Off it now as the steroid in my back worked.

My neighbor takes it for a bad nerve issue and his dose was making him sleepy and he couldn’t remember stuff-like why he walked across the street. He was so messed up on it I asked if he had been drinking, and we got around to his proscribed drugs-turns out his dose was too high. After talking to his wife, she got his dose reduced. He’s on about 300mg/day now for over a year nd he dose t present as being drugged or drunk anymore.